Spain’s Jordan Diaz Fortun and Portugal’s Tokyo Olympic Games champion Pedro Pichardo had another magnificent triple jump duel at Paris 2024 and, like at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships, it was again the Spaniard that prevailed on Friday (9).
The pair didn’t quite reach the stunning distances achieved in the Italian capital – where Diaz Fortun won with 18.18m to Pichardo’s 18.04m for just the second competition ever in which two men went over 18 metres – which could be partly attributed to the greasy run up after the early evening rain.
However, the gold and silver medal winning distances of 17.86m and 17.84m still indicated it was a head-to-head contest of outstanding quality.
Pichardo, jumping third in the initial order, went out to 17.79m with his opening effort while not even touching the board on his takeoff.
Seven jumpers later, it was Diaz Fortun’s turn and he responded by bounding out to 17.86m – with TV replays showing he had 5.3cm to spare – and even though it eventually proved to be the winning jump, there wasn’t a single moment until his very last jump when the Spaniard could relax.
Pichardo reached 17.84m with his next jump, still with a yawning 19cm to spare and his toe barely touching the board, to exert more pressure and Fortun had a relatively modest 17.64m in response.
In the third round, Pichardo fouled but Diaz Fortun uncorked another big effort measured at 17.85m.
In the final three rounds, with Pichardo jumping first, the Portuguese jumper recorded 17.52m and then pased before putting everything into his final effort but he landing agonisingly at 17.81m.
Diaz Fortun’s fourth round effort was another outstanding one, reading 17.84m before a fifth round 17.25m. Once assured of his win – Spain’s second in the athletics after the marathon race walk mixed relay victory of Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez – he passed his final attempt before draping himself in the Spanish flag and hugging family and friends alongside the triple jump runway.
European champion 🤝 Olympic champion
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) August 9, 2024
And what a series from Jordan Diaz Fortun 🇪🇸 in the triple jump! 💫
17.86m
17.64m
17.85m
17.84m
17.25m
-#OlympicGames #Paris2024 #athletics pic.twitter.com/hZm9hiD1Po
“To be an Olympic champion is the biggest achievement I have, it has been my dream since I was a kid,” said Diaz Fortun. “I even have something on Facebook from 2017, when I won the World U18 Championships, and I wrote down that I wanted to be an Olympic champion. I will have to try to find it, and repost it."
As with all Paris 2024 medallists, Diaz Fortun also had the honour of ringing the commemorative bell which will soon be mounted in the restored Notre Dame cathedral.
Italy’s Andy Diaz Hernandez took the bronze with his final effort of 17.64m, having already secured a place on the podium with his 17.63m opener, to make it a European clean sweep of the triple jump medals.
Neita to the rescue
Great Britain can thank Daryll Neita for rescuing a silver medal in the women’s 4x100m and, after placing fourth and fifth in the 100m and 200m, she finally secured a medal in Paris.
The British quartet had a magnificent start from Dina Asher-Smith who was by far the quickest over the opening leg.
The former 200m world champion had a slick change with Imani Lansiquot who kept Great Britain very much in gold medal contention but that was followed by mediocre handover between the latter and 2019 European U20 200m champion Amy Hunt.
Hunt still ran a strong second bend as she battled for the lead with Germany’s Gina Lückenkemper immediately on her inside – with Alexandra Burghardt and Lisa Mayer having run the first two legs – but another poor change left Neita with a lot to do down the home straight.
However, Neita produced a flying finish for Great Britain and although she couldn’t quite close down the USA’s 2023 100m world champion Sha’Carri Richardson, who produced an excellent anchor leg for the Americans despite themselves also being far from perfect passing the baton.
The USA clocked 41.78 to take gold with Great Britain – sporting the same quartet that took the 2024 European gold medals in Rome back in June – second in 41.85 while Rebekka Haase brought Germany home for the bronze medals in 41.97.
So nice they did it twice. 😏
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) August 9, 2024
Great Britain is the only nation to come away with medals in both Olympic 4x100m finals. 🥈🥉#OlympicGames #Paris2024 #athletics pic.twitter.com/towyB7VcWX
Haase was near-delirious after crossing the line finally getting an Olympic medal after being part of German 4x100m quartets that finished fourth and fifth at the last two Olympic Games.
Hughes clinches bronze for Britain
Great Britain were also the leading European team in the men’s 4x100m with Jeremiah Azu, Louie Hinchliffe, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and 2018 European 100m champion Zharnel Hughes combining to clock a European-leading 37.61 for third place.
In a very closely contested race, Hughes took over in fifth place but ran an inspired anchor leg to get Great Britain the bronze medals.
In front of Hughes, Canada took the gold with 37.50 and South Africa getting the silver medals in 37.57.
Italy, the winners in Tokyo three years ago, were run out of the medals in the defence of their title and had to settle for fourth place in 37.68.
Matteo Melluzzo and the 2024 European 100m champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs gave the Italians a very slight lead going into the second changeover, but Lorenzo Patta and Filippo Tortu couldn’t quite keep the Azzurri in the medals.
Kaczmarek completes her set
Poland’s 2024 European 400m champion Natalia Kaczmarek now has a complete set of Olympic medals after winning the bronze over one lap of the track in the Stade de France.
Kaczmarek was part of Polish relay teams that took the mixed 4x400m gold and women’s 4x400m silver medals in Tokyo three years ago but will stand on the podium in Paris in her own right after clocking 48.98 for third in the 400m, equalling the second fastest time of her life and just 0.08 shy of her recent national record from the London Diamond League meeting last month.
❗️𝗠𝗘𝗗𝗔𝗟 🥉
— PZLA (@PZLANews) August 9, 2024
Paryż 🇫🇷:
bieg na 400 metrów
🥉 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮 𝗞𝗮𝗰𝘇𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗸 𝟰𝟴.𝟵𝟴#TeamPL @GrupaORLEN pic.twitter.com/x36Imu89Jc
Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino won in emphatic fashion in an Olympic 400m record 48.17 with Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser second in 48.53.
Behind the medallists, Ireland’s Roma 2024 silver medallist Rhasidat Adeleke got fourth place with 49.28 while Great Britain’s fast-finishing Amber Anning set a national record of 49.29 in fifth, improving on the mark of 49.41 that Christine Ohuruogu set when winning the 2013 world title.
Unlike Kaczmarek, whose compatriots didn’t progress out of Friday morning’s 4x400m heats, both Adeleke and Anning will have another chance to make the podium as both Ireland and Great Britain maanged to qualify for Saturday night’s relay final without having to call on their number one runners.
Phil Minshull for European Athletics